HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES : Funds for Family Planning

The House passed and sent to the Senate a bill to fund about 4,000 clinics nationwide that use federal money to provide family planning services to the poor. Critics noted that the bill’s $238-million cost in fiscal 1994 is 37% above the 1993 level. The bill was also challenged for permitting clinics to provide abortion counseling, which was prohibited during the Bush Administration.

“To lower abortion rates, we should give women the ability to prevent pregnancy,” supporter Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) said.

“A vote for this bill is not a pro-choice vote,” opponent David A. Levy (R-N.Y.) said. “It is a vote to dig deeper into the pockets of middle-class Americans. . . .”

The vote was 273 for and 149 against. A yes vote was to pass the bill. How They Voted Rep. Becerra (D): Yea Rep. Dixon (D): Yea Rep. Roybal-Allard (D): Yea Rep. Waters (D): Yea

Parent Notification of Abortion The House rejected a bid by anti-abortion lawmakers to require clinics to alert parents at least two days before a scheduled abortion on a minor, except when delay would cause the girl’s death or the pregnancy was caused by her father. It would have gone beyond language in the bill requiring federally funded clinics to comply with state laws on parental notification.

Supporter Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.) said “a parent or legal guardian has a right to know if their daughter is seeking an abortion.”

Opponent J. Roy Rowland (D-Ga.) said “the states should be allowed to work out this very difficult problem. . . .”

The vote was 179 for and 243 against. A yes vote was for stricter parental notification requirements. How They Voted Rep. Becerra (D): Nay Rep. Dixon (D): Nay Rep. Roybal-Allard (D): Nay Rep. Waters (D): Nay Source: Roll Call Report Syndicate